British Brace for a Nightmare Scenario: Another Terror Strike

William J. Kole On Jul 11, 2005
Source: Associated Press

British Transport Police search the luggage of
a passenger at King's Cross station, in London, Monday, July 11, 2005.
Security has been stepped up in the wake of last Thursday's attacks on
London's transport system.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Max Nash

LONDON -- It's a nightmare scenario that police and the public don't
want to think about but can't afford to ignore: What if the terrorists
behind last week's deadly bombings strike again?

Authorities have warned that the terror cell that carried out Thursday's
bombings of three crowded rush-hour Underground trains and a
double-decker bus may be intact and capable of another strike.

"Our fear is of course of more attacks," Home Secretary Charles Clarke,
the Cabinet minister responsible for law and order, said Sunday.

It didn't happen after al-Qaida's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and
Washington, or after the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid, Spain.

But authorities, warning that anything is possible, said they're working
to contain the threat by boosting police patrols, deploying more
undercover officers and restricting the movements of known suspects.
Some London hotels have been using electronic wands to search guests for
weapons or explosives.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, are renewing a push to introduce a controversial
national system of high-tech biometric ID cards.

The measures being taken or considered suggest Britain is following the
lead of the United States, Israel, Russia and other countries that have
responded to attacks with vows to toughen security - often with mixed
success and criticism from citizens wary of greater government and
police powers.

Conservative leader Michael Howard called anew Sunday for extra security
measures, including the appointment of a minister of homeland security -
a step Washington took after Sept. 11.

"Obviously we must remain prepared for any eventuality. The fact that
we've had these attacks doesn't mean we won't have more attacks," said
Andy Trotter, deputy chief constable of the British Transport Police.

"Therefore, we're taking all necessary precautions to keep London as
safe as we can," he said. "You'll see the activities out there on the
street: the high visibility policing. The undercover work you won't see,
of course. At the same time we are appealing to Londoners to assist us
... by reporting anything suspicious."

Although authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the
terrorists were British rather than foreigners, Clarke said the
government was tightening border security through an "e-borders" system
that subjects people to computer checks as they enter and leave Britain.

Yet there were few signs of a greater police presence on the streets of
London, where the prevailing mood was a sense that not even a lockdown
would eliminate the threat of more attacks.

"Cities are made up of millions of soft targets. They are an impossible
security problem," said Steve Graham, a terrorism expert. "On 9/11, it
was the air system. In Madrid, it was the rail system. In London, it was
the Tube and bus system."

Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government was operating on the
theory that "you have got, as a government, to do everything you can to
protect your people."

"But if people are actually prepared to go on to a Tube or a bus and
blow up wholly innocent people, people just at random ... you can have
all the surveillance in the world and you couldn't stop that happening,"
he added.

Even before the attacks, Blair had been tightening security laws.

In March, parliament passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which
allows authorities to place suspected terrorists under house arrest and
impose travel bans without trials. But the government's push for
national ID cards including fingerprints and iris scans has met with
resistance from civil libertarians.

Blair, alluding to that opposition and the need to balance security
concerns against human rights and privacy, conceded his government has
"got to be very cautious about it." An ID card system, he said, would
have to be "hedged around an enormous amount of restrictions on
government power."

Israelis are accustomed to heavy security; Londoners are not.

Many bristle at the idea of living permanently amid tighter security,
reflecting a reluctance rooted in the widely held belief that if they
significantly change their lifestyles, the terrorists will have won.